Back in my review of Miracle on 34th Street, I commented on how crazy the writers must have been to use something as “tedious, humorless and boring” as a court case to tell an uplifting story of Christmas. Turns out I spoke too soon, for I’ve just seen an inspirational Christmas film set in the most mournful and joyless place possible. A cold place surrounded by death where no one is safe from unexpected slaughter. Where people go to kill each other for no better reason than because they were told to. I refer, of course, to a war zone.
The first act of Joyeux Noel is really depressing. The score is so dreary, the symbolism so blatant, the acting so melodramatic, the corpses stacked so high and the “war is hell” theme expressed so aggressively that it makes Saving Private Ryan look like Toy Story. Hell, the movie begins with German, French and British children reciting nursery rhymes that profess bigotry against fellow European nations. Not that I don’t appreciate the wonderful cinematography or the staggering sound design, but would just a touch of subtlety be too much to ask for?
Luckily, it all pays off. Man, does it ever pay off when the second act starts.
Huddled in the trenches on Christmas Eve, the soldiers on opposing ends of No Man’s Land start singing Christmas carols loud enough to hear across the field. And then they start singing together. I know that sounds cliche, but this sequence is exquisitely staged. Through the metaphor of music, these two bands of mortal enemies are gradually discovering something that they have in common and helping each other enjoy it. Without even speaking the same language, they are sharing something that goes beyond their boundaries. What’s more, this joy and unity so starkly contrasts with the despair and prejudice that so dominated the first act that this new development is simply magical.
This leads to the central premise of the film: The true story of French, Scottish and German troops that shared a battlefield and declared a ceasefire for Christmas during the Great War (now known as World War I). They go on to celebrate the holiday together, swapping photos of their loved ones, sharing what drinks and food they have and telling stories of their lives back home. They even hold a midnight mass together and play a game of soccer football. Yet through it all, their festivities are softly underlined by their petty differences and prejudices, not to mention the horrors that they forced unto each other just the day before.
Then, of course, comes the inevitable: That hopeless attempt to delay the third act, in which the pleasantries end and the war continues. At this point, the film once again becomes overbearingly blunt in its morality, especially in regard to the bigotry that goes on back home. Case in point: There’s a priest who comes off as a monster in the way he uses Christianity to turn World War I into a Holy Crusade against the evil enemies of Britain, and no, it doesn’t make any more sense the way he explains it.
Fortunately, not too many of our main characters die. The regiments involved all get separated and reassigned before that can happen. Nevertheless, that threat of these new friends killing each other is constantly hanging overhead, and that keeps the movie compelling through the remainder of its running time.
As per usual in foreign films, this one is cast pretty much entirely with actors unknown to the U.S. The only name actor is Diane Kruger, with a prominent role as a professional opera singer. Far more importantly, her character is the lover of a German soldier — also an opera singer by profession — and the sole woman on the battlefield. Needless to say, she’s there principally to represent the mindset of the civilians and military wives.
She also gets a brief sex scene. Tasteful, but definitely with some nudity. Not that I’m complaining, but that seems like a rather odd thing for a Christmas film to have, don’t you think? Then again, I suppose that even without the sex scene, this wouldn’t be a good holiday film for kids to watch, anyway.
Getting back to the rest of the cast, this film hinges entirely on them. If we can’t sympathize with these soldiers and see them all as equally human, the movie falls apart. If we don’t buy into their new friendships or enjoy watching them form, the film falls apart. If we can’t understand their difficulties in letting go of old preconceptions or their pain in taking them back up later on, the film falls apart. This all comprises a monstrous burden for our actors to bear, but they all carry it wonderfully.
The visuals are uniformly amazing and the film uses music from three countries to beautiful effect. In fact, the music is central to the plot in many ways. The sound design is also very good, though our two “opera singers” show some pretty obvious lip syncing here and there. By and large, I’d say that my biggest problem with the film is that I thought it ended too soon. I’d gotten so attached to these characters that I wanted to see more of them and learn how they ended up. Just a text epilogue would have done wonders for that, but no such luck.
Joyeux Noel isn’t always an easy film to sit through, especially during its opening third. Though to be fair, the harshness of that opening act and the hatred we see everywhere else in Europe makes those few days of peace on the front and their lingering sentiments all the more pure. At its heart and core, this is a film about hundreds of men stuck in the horrors of war who are so desperate for comfort that they find it in their enemies. This is an undeniably poignant film about unity and compassion that will surely touch anyone with a beating heart. This is that ultimate Christmas sentiment of “Peace on Earth” taken to its furthest possible extreme. Though I certainly wouldn’t suggest it as a family film, I still totally recommend it as a cinematic expression of the yuletide spirit.
A very merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and yours. Thanks for reading.